A Rip in Reality
by Skia1717
Summary: All throughout time, there have been stories. The imaginings of authors, playwrites, and the like. Stories born of the hopes and dreams and ideas of ordinary people. But, what if, I told you they were all true? What if, perhaps, each of these stories, these places and characters, was real? And what if, one day the walls between them collapsed? What if, you were in the middle of it?
1. Prologue: Mist in the Night

**Author's Note: Oh happy day! It's up! The crossover of the century! Have fun, and enjoy watching your favorite characters get thrown about violently by a hopeless romantic author!**

**Disclaimer: Also, I don't own anything in here except my own characters, such as Skia, who comes from my own book, Faerie Dust, and Sam, who is the reincarnation of me in this adventure.**

* * *

Skia heard the roof groan. She pushed herself upright, brushing the heavy blankets off her. The air was cold, biting at her skin and making her teeth chatter. Sam never turned the heater on at night. She claimed it was a waste of energy, that piling on blankets would keep anybody warm without a heater. _Glad you can stay warm, _she thought_. You don't have to deal with the Mistborn and their dumb "secret entrance." _

A figure landed on the roof outside the window of her attic bedroom. It tapped on the window softly. Skia got out of bed and waddled over to the window, rubbing her arms furiously. She unlatched the window and pulled it open slightly. The figure jumped through, shoving the window wide. A gust of frozen air spilled inside, dragging thick, heavy snowflakes with it. Mist poured over the sill and onto the floor. She pushed the window shut quickly and pulled her hands inside of the thick, fuzzy sleeves of her purple sweater.

"Do you always have to c-come back in the middle of the night?" Skia mumbled, "It's f-f-freezing out there!"

"Yeah, I guess it's a bit nippy," a calm, cheerful voice yawned. Hands crisscrossed with, thin, pale scars pulled back the silvery gray hood of his mistcloak. He smiled deviously and ran his fingers through his golden blonde hair. "Guess that's what we get from putting our headquarters in Canada, right?"

"Honestly, Kelsier, if this were anybody else's room you'd be dead by now."

"Hey, I'm not the only one who comes through here," he put his hands up defensively.

"Vin at least has the decency to bring some compensation," she shivered, "Last time she brought chocolate."

"Are you really that cold?" he said, concerned. Mistborn had the strange ability to shut out all sorts of little annoyances. Cold, hunger, fatigue, even pain on occasion. A lot of the time they didn't even notice. Once, Vin had stepped on on a piece of glass and didn't realize it until Sam noticed the bloody footprints across the courtyard.

Skia sneezed a squeaky, small _"chew!"_

"Well here then," he chuckled, pulling off his cloak and wrapping it around her shoulders, "Compensation enough?"

She smiled and sneezed again.

He pulled open her bedroom door, leaning back in, saying, "I'll need that back in the morning, 'kay? Sleep well!" He pulled the door shut.

Skia smiled thoughtfully. Kell was a nice guy, even if he did always wake her up in the middle of the night. She pulled the cloak tighter, ribbons floating about. It was still quite warm, despite being worn out in the freezing cold night air. The cloak was made like the skirts she usually wore. It was made completely from ribbons of fabric, sewn tightly together from the top to about a third of the way down, and was the signifying garb of those called the Mistborn. Of course, they weren't from Skia's reality. They had their own world, full of their own troubles and their own secrets.

Skia sighed. She was very grateful for the cloak. Kell could be a real gentleman when he wanted to. She climbed back under her thick blankets into the plush bed. The cold had killed the pocket of warmth she had made before. She curled the cloak around her and forced her eyes shut. It was going to be a long, cold night.


	2. Chapter 1: The Strangest Place

**Author's Note: In this massive crossover, you will meet many characters that you may or may not have heard of. I will be sure to try and include which books/movies/series/plays they are from, roughly what they are like, and eventually a detailed description of their abilities, probably when the story finally makes it inside their head. For now, enjoy the mystery, and I hope to bring about some small laughing fits of excitement when your favorite character shows up. :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own, nor will I probably ever own, any of the franchises below. I don't own Doctor Who. If I did, Rose would still be around and the Weeping Angels would still be scary. I do not own Phineas and Ferb. If I did, Isabella and Phineas would already be together. I do not own Mistborn, or Kell wouldn't be dead. I don't own FullMetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, nor do I own Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. And I definitely don't own Wheel of Time. The only thing I do own is my own characters, such as Skia, who are from my own book, Faerie Dust.**

* * *

Sam had always loved stories. She'd always loved the deep intertwining emotions of characters as they dealt with all sorts of crisscrossing plot lines. So of course, the past month had been a dream come true.

She walked casually through the hallway of the massive building. She'd found it pretty early in the chaos, and had figured it would make a good home base. It had once been a massive school, probably pulled through the Gap from The Mysterious Benedict Society, although they had yet to run into any of the characters. Hopefully the school was the only thing that made it through. Gaps were sporadic, and if they were lucky, the Benedicters' Gap would seal itself shut before anything else escaped- or invaded. Other stories weren't so lucky.

It started about a month ago, when out of the blue Draco Malfoy himself had appeared in her bedroom. He'd looked very very confused.

"What have you done now, Potter?!" he'd shouted, turning about, "My father will hear about this!"

Sam had just stood there, about as confused as he was, sipping on the soda she'd just gotten. It had taken her quite a while of simply watching him panic before she finally figured out who he was. And as soon as she'd swallowed the idea that Draco Malfoy was actually in her house, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had appeared as well.

It had her quite excited, until about half an hour later when Ghirahim appeared in her living room.

All sorts of characters had started appearing, heroes and villains alike. It had taken quite a bit of effort on her part to keep her house from being destroyed. Eventually she got most of them calmed down (or tied up) and started to unravel the mysteries of how they were there.

Since that fateful day, she'd been finding and helping characters from all sorts of places. She had, of course, heard most of their stories, and many of these characters were very interested in her knowledge. And of that came an entire organization dedicated to stop reality from falling apart.

She turned a corner, meandering toward the massive library. Today seemed to be a pretty slow day. They hadn't found any new Gaps, and the open ones hadn't been very active either. Everything seemed to be going fairly well. She thought maybe she'd pull out a book she hadn't read for a while and catch up on her history.

She pushed open the doors and found absolute chaos. Blood was splattered across one of the couches. Books lay scattered about, pages bent and torn. A small black and white dog barked at the menacing, blonde anime character. Her fist shook, maintaining the death grip she had on her wrench.

"YOU BROKE IT AGAIN?!" Winry's subtitles read, her high voice shouting in Japanese. Ed lay across the couch in a dead-looking position, twitching. Al knelt, pleading for his brother's life, voice echoing in his suit of armor.

"I-it wasn't his fault this time, Winry! Sam needed us to-" Winry hit him with the wrench.

His helmet flew across the room, clattering over the carpet. He yelped and crawled after it. The little dog dashed over and snatched it up, running off into the maze of bookshelves. Alphonse stood and dashed after it, shouting.

"Heh, Winry," Sam laughed nervously, "Calm down! I did need him to go on that mission. And it worked! We got Aragorn out of there safe and sound, right? Besides, I'm sure that the _best automail mechanic in the world_ can fix it!" Winry's glare made the whole room feel like a dungeon. Sam just smiled, chuckling hesitantly. At last, Winry sighed.

"Sometimes I don't even know why I bother making automail for you people. Seriously, it's broken more often than not. You might just be better off without it. Get up, Ed, we've got to go put it back together for the umpteenth time." Her subtitles hung just at the bottom of Sam's vision, like her eyes were the screen and she was watching the anime rather than living it. It was a nice perk that came with having characters in other languages. Of course, she could set their language to English, but Ed's Japanese voice was so much cooler than his English one. Romi Park did such a good job of making Ed sound like the irresistible guy that he was. Vic Mignogna was good, but not as good as Romi, even if she was a girl. Maybe it was just the Japanese that made it sound so beautiful.

Ed pushed himself up, mechanical right arm limp and dented. He rubbed his hand through his blonde hair, and pulled it away suddenly. It was covered in blood.

"GAH! Winry! Honestly did you have to hit me that hard?! You could've killed me!" His Japanese words rolled into Sam's ears in a beautiful wave of delight as his subtitles appeared across her vision.

"Well then maybe you should be more careful with your automail!"

"I've already told you I got attacked by a cave troll..."

The sight was magnificent. Ed and Winry having a shouting match while Alphonse chased Riza Hawkeye's dog, Black Hayate, through the bookshelves of the library. Sam couldn't help but smile. Of all the characters she had wanted to meet, this bunch was at the top of the list.

Someone tugged on her sleeve. She looked down to find May Chang, a little Xingese girl who was also from the Fullmetal Alchemist universe. She was short, and wore a dress and hairstyle that would be called Chinese there in reality. On her shoulder was a tiny little panda that she called Shao May.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Well," Sam started, "Winry hit Ed with her wrench again, but this time it's bleeding really bad and they've decided instead of bandaging it they should have a shouting match."

"Oh my. Should I help?"

Sam thought for a moment. "Nah, I'll take care of them. You go help Alphonse get his head back from Black Hayate. I'm sure he'd appreciate it."

"Okay!" She smiled wide and took off in the direction of the barks and shouts.

Sam sighed, smiling. _What a wild group of characters, _she thought. _Well, better keep that moron from dying. _She pulled her small med kit out of her bag and waltzed over to the fight. She opened the kit and set it on the couch next to him. Both Ed and Winry fell silent as she turned his head so she could see the cut better.

"Seriously, Ed, did you think I would actually let you sit here and fight while you're bleeding all over your fabulous hair? I swear one day you'll just be ginger rather than the fantabulous blonde that you are, I mean, just look at this! It's beautiful!" She parted the blood-soaked gold that covered his head and began working on the cut. It was pretty wide. Normally he'd need stitches and he'd have a scar for quite a while longer. Lucky for him they were surrounded by people quite adept at magic.

"It's just a scratch, Sam," he mumbled, "What is it with you and my hair, anyway?"

"Well, first off, it's not just a scratch. It's almost a gouge, actually. And second, I just can't help it! It's gorgeous! Not many guys can pull off a braid and the arching bangs that you have. I can only think of one other and he's a video game character." She poured some water onto a hand towel and began cleaning out the cut.

"Oh come on, Sam, the whole building knows you like him!" Winry laughed as Ed tried to stand up, but was shoved back down by Sam. "What do you see in him, anyway?"

Ed began to protest, but Sam cut him off, smiling, "Well, I've always had a strange attraction to anime-style characters, but I've got to say Ed here is just magnificent. Fast, strong, and just a bit shorter than me."

Ed froze, like his dignity had been tazered. Sam and Winry laughed. She continued, "Heh, it doesn't matter, though. Edward-chan's already got a girl."

"Oh? Who?" Winry leaned in, genuinely puzzled.

"Oh, I can't say much. She's within earshot. Isn't she, Edward?"

Ed went completely red and decided then was the right time to panic.

"Oh would you look at that I've got to meet the colonel alrighty bye then!"

Sam shoved him back onto the couch, "You, Edward Elric, are not going anywhere until I finish bandaging this gouge that your _mechanic_ kindly left for me."

Now the both of them were red, awkwardly fiddling with their hair or their clothes. _Well, one step further, _Sam thought. _Of course, fitting my little bit in here and not corrupting the timeline is gonna be a challenge. Well, I guess I don't _**have** _to incorporate myself, but what's the point of having a character come to life if you can't have a little bit of fun, right?_

She rubbed some of her enchanted Neosporin over the gouge and wrapped his head in gauze. She helped him to his feet.

"Make sure you take a shower after she finishes fixing you up. If your hair is left all grimy like that it'll definitely cause an infection. I _know_ you skimp out on washing it properly, Ed!"

"Heh, I'll make sure he does, Sam," Winry smiled, "Oh, and Moiraine needed to talk to you. They said they found a new Gap or something."

"Oh thanks!" she said, turning to leave, "Have fun you two!" She winked at Ed, and he blushed again.

_It will be interesting to see how that turns out,_ she thought. She let the library door swing shut behind her and set out for the main offices.

"Sam-chan! Sam-chan!"

She whipped around to find her best friend sprinting toward her.

"Ohayou, Kelly-chan! What's up?" She and Kelly were in love with the Japanese tongue, and tried to use it whenever possible.

She slowed to a stop, panting, "The Doctor... he... broke through... to... Danville! Phineas... and Ferb... are on their way!"

"What?!" Sam shouted, "Where? When? Have they started the Gap-sealer yet?"

Kelly took a deep breath, "They're coming back any second. Looks like we caught them right after Isabella's Birthday. You've got to get down there now! Everything will fall apart if Moiraine takes charge!"

Sam's eyes widened, filling with terror. _If that bilgesnipe butts in on that dimension, she'll have Isabella taken to the White Tower and destroy the whole plan! _She sprinted for the stairs at the end of the hall, shouting a thank you over her shoulder and catching the edge of the stairwell. _Dangit, Doctor, what made you bust through without telling me? _She swung around leapt onto the railing, sliding down the spiral staircase twice as fast as she could've run. She bounded off as she hit the bottom, nearly colliding with Kelsier.

"Hey! You heard too?" he called, catching up to her.

"Of course! I thought I was in charge of this place! I just hope I can get there before Moiraine," she shot back.

"I can get you there!" He picked her up and suddenly they were flying down the hall four times as fast as she had been. They reached the corner and were jerked around it, flying down toward the large doors to their meeting room. They jerked to a halt and the doors flew open. She nodded a quick thanks to Kell as he put her down and shot inside. Moiraine wasn't there yet. There was still time.

She searched the room. Roy Mustang sat at the long table that ran through the room, with Riza Hawkeye at his side. Aragorn leaned against the back wall, watching Harry, Ron, and Hermione levitate chairs about the room. Vin appeared to be sitting on the filing cabinets in the corner. They were only missing Thor, Tony, Captain Picard, and Captain Janeway. It had to be enough for now.

"Alright guys, what's going on? I need full detail of everything that's happened in the last twenty minutes," she shouted, rushing to her spot at the head of the table. The characters rushed to their seats. Colonel Mustang was the first to speak.

"Half an hour ago, Moiraine sensed another gap opening nearby and went to investigate, Lan in tow. They returned five minutes later to report that the Gap leads to a region called Kanto, inhabited by creatures named as Pokemon by the locals of the area. She went back soon after when Lt. Hawkeye picked up distress signals coming from inside."

"It appears," Riza picked up, "that enemy forces began invading, and we have since pulled a boy called Ash Ketchum along with two of his friends, both unconscious. Moiraine is caring for them now."

_So much for a slow day,_ Sam thought. "So where does Phineas and Ferb come in?"

"About five minutes ago," Hermione jumped in, "The Doctor was showing me how the TARDIS is bigger on the inside when he went silent. He threw me out the door and told me to tell everyone that Danville had opened and that he would be back with Phineas and Ferb, possibly injured."

"The Doctor injured or Phineas and Ferb injured?" Sam asked.

"From the look on his face, I'd guess both."

Sam quickly formulated a plan. There was no telling when Moiraine would show up. She sighed, and got up.

"Lt. Hawkeye, Col. Mustang, find May and take her to Ash and his friends. Have her do everything in her power to get them conscious again. Explain the situation as best as you can and get them down here _ASAP._"

"Hai." The two saluted and sped out the door.

"Aragorn," The ranger looked up from his spot against the wall, "Find Tom Parris and tell him to begin Project 17. He'll know what to do." Aragorn nodded and left, cloak billowing.

"Harry, Ron, Hermione," They nodded determinedly, "Find Skia, Emelor, Alekin, Brodus, and Sazed and have them prepare rooms, I'm guessing twelve if he has to pull the whole gang through. Then prepare the infirmary. We've got to be ready to handle anything." The trio dashed out the door.

Sam took a deep breath, and continued, "Vin, Kelsier, under no circumstances are you to let Moiraine within 200 feet of our new arrivals. **Keep her away from them.** She is NOT to speak to them until I have. We don't have time for her secrets and manipulations. Understood?"

"Does that mean I can kill her if she gets too close?" Vin chimed, smirking.

"No."

"Darn," Vin deflated, "Why do you keep her around, Sam? You don't like her, and you certainly don't trust her. What purpose does she have here?"

Sam sighed in defeat, "I don't want her here, but what can I do? If I let her take charge, we watch the world burn as she takes too long to fix it. If she goes on her own, she'll interfere with the stories. If she dies, we lose access to the One Power, our greatest resource. If we lock her away, we'll have a storm rip us to shreds. Oh, why does this always have to happen? Why can't there be a happy medium?" Sam slumped down, putting her head in her hands. Moiraine was just a big ball of stress, and at its core the key to putting things back to normal.

Kell put his hand on her shoulder. She looked up, and he smiled.

"We'll keep her out of your hair. An Aes Sedai against two Mistborn? Oughta be evenly matched. It won't be a problem."

At that moment, a sound began. A beautiful sound. An engine working against the brakes, coming to a halt on the floor above. The sound of the universe.

The Doctor was back.


	3. Chapter 2: The Walls

**Author's Note: MAJOR Phinbella chapter! First, I am not a medical student. I do not have a clue how much adrenaline you need to keep a heart from stopping. I just picked a number and hoped it sounded good. If anybody actually has a better number, I'd love to hear it. :) More is on the way!  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own, nor will I probably ever own, any of the stories, places, or characters that I use in this. Other than anybody from Faerie Dust. I do own them. I gotta say it's been loads of fun putting Skia, Alekin, and Sam in this chapter. They're some of my favorites!**

* * *

_"Phineas!"_

_**Thumthump.**_

_"Exterminate! Exterminate!"_

_**Thumthump.**_

_"Get back! Isabella, get back!"_

_**Thumthump.**_

_Those things... what are they?!_

_**Thumthump.**_

_"ISABELLA! NO!"_

_**Thumthump.**_

_"AAAUUUGGGHHH!"_

_**Thumthump.**_

_It hurts. My body, why does it hurt so much?_

_**Thumthump.**_

_"No no no no no! Stay with me!"_

_**Thumthump.**_

_"Why them?! They're only children! What do the Daleks want with children?!"_

_**Thumthump.**_

_"I need 30ccs of adrenaline, stat! Now, Sazed, or his heart will stop!"_

_**Thumthump.**_

_"Ph-Phineas... no..."_

_**Thumthump.**_

Isabella let loose a scream, shooting upward. She lay in a pure white room on a plush bed. It looked the size of a gym, with several rows of beds across it. She was hooked up to several monitors, an IV resting in her arm. The nightmare was sharper than the rough white shirt and pants scratching at her skin.

There had been things in the sky, strange robot-like things, destroying Danville. They came for them, her and her friends, and... Phineas! She frantically searched the room.

"Phineas! Phineas!" She began to get out of bed, and was pushed back in by a girl with black and purple hair. She shoved her way past, calling louder.

"You have to lay down!_" _the girl said frantically. Isabella ignored her, dragging her IV stand behind her, searching desperately. _You saved us. You saved us all! Please be alright, Phineas!_

_There! At the end of the row! Red hair!_ She stumbled toward the shivering lump, tears coming to her eyes. Phineas Flynn, the boy across the street, the boy who could do anything. The boy she loved. He had saved them all, her friends, her family, and now he could be dying.

She pulled herself around the end of the bed, the tears escaping and running down her cheeks in hot waterfalls. He shivered heavily, shuddered breaths escaping in an uneven pattern. Sweat dripped off his forehead, soaking the white pillow. Monitors beeped in time to his racing heartbeat, a tube ran from his nose to an oxygen tank.

She collapsed, her face and arms sinking into the edge of his bed. Sobs racked her body, cold piercing her soul. _Phineas... Oh Phineas... Why? Why did you have to be the hero? You can't leave me now..._ The dark-haired Isabella Garcia-Shapiro felt her spirit rip in two.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. She lifted her head, stifling another wail.

The black haired girl from before stood over her. She smiled, and chuckled, "You've got some seriously bad timing."

Isabella pulled her head up higher, confused. The girl smiled again and continued, "His medication just wore off, that's all. Heh, great time to wake up right?" The girl walked around to Phineas' IV bag and injected a blue liquid. It mixed and twirled down the IV into his arm. He began to relax, his breathing becoming even.

"He'll be just fine."

Isabella's breath caught. The girl smiled again and knelt down beside her, wiping a tear off her cheek. Her large, purple eyes were comforting, like her mother's. Isabella leapt on the girl, crying into her shoulder.

"H-he saved us! He s-saved me! One of those th-things was coming straight at me an-and he j-jumped in f-front of me!" The girl held her comfortingly, softly reassuring her. She pushed her back a bit.

"Would you like me to move your bed down here?" she asked, "Set you up closer to him?" Isabella nodded. "Well, then you've gotta promise me you won't move around anymore, okay?" She nodded again.

The girl snapped her fingers. A couple deep purple sparks shot out, and the air tensed slightly. A bed and medical equipment began to materialize right next to Phineas', less than a foot between them. Isabella's mouth dropped open, her eyes widening.

"H-how?" she stuttered.

The girl laughed, "Technically I'm not supposed to say anything until Sam can talk to you, but I think you deserve something after that scare. I'm Skia, Skia Stregasorseth, a Crimson Sorceress of the Faerie Dust parallel. That won't mean much to you until later, but I can say, if you need anything, magic or not, don't hesitate to ask." Isabella's eyes simply got wider. The girl, Skia, simply chuckled, "Let's get you back into bed, okay?"

Isabella nodded and let the girl lift her onto the bed. Skia began reattaching the monitors to her, starting up the equipment. She lifted the blankets over her and gently tucked in the edges.

"So, you're Isabella, right?" Skia said, sitting on the end of the bed.

"Yeah," she replied, "How...?"

Skia chuckled, "We've been watching you. We figured they'd come after you and your friends. Phineas and his brother are the greatest inventors in the whole of creation, after all. Sam's looked, and she hasn't found anyone else that can so blatantly defy the laws of their dimension. Even the magic dimensions have laws that can't be broken, but Phineas and Ferb... The laws of that dimension should cancel out some of there more exotic stuff. But it doesn't. Quite unique. Either way, we figured you'd be a target, and we were right."

Isabella simply stared.

"You... have no idea what I'm talking about, do you."

She shook her head.

Skia sighed, and continued, "Well, you'll understand later."

Isabella sighed and leaned back. All at once, aches and pains she had forgotten returned, slamming into her like a runaway bus. She groaned.

"Looks like your medication wore off," Skia chuckled, "It's been a long couple of days. I'll put a light sedative in there too, okay? You deserve some sleep."

Isabella's eyes began to droop as blue liquid slid down her IV. She smiled, and gladly accepted the warm embrace of peaceful sleep.

She awoke with a start, unable to move from her scrunched position. She tested her muscles until she found the right ones to straighten her legs and arms. It was dark, the only light coming from the monitors. She assumed it must be the middle of the night. She lifted a hand from under the blanket to rub her face, and immediately put it back. The air was frigid, colder even than the night the Fireside Girls camped out in the snow. She rubbed her arms and curled up again.

Not far away she heard someone shivering. She rolled over and saw Phineas' silhouette shaking. She quickly inspected the glowing numbers on his equipment. All normal. She sighed deeply. He continued to shake, teeth audibly chattering. A wave of sympathy crashed over her_. _She lay silently for several minutes, and then made her decision, and slid the covers off of her.

She reached her hand out, feeling along until she found the edge of her bed. The cold nipped her skin as she hesitantly searched her arm with her other hand for the IV. To her surprise, it was gone. _That will make things easier,_ she thought. She kept her hand on the edge of her bed and reached across the gap with the other, searching for the edge of his. It wasn't far, maybe a foot at most. She began to inch her way toward it, careful not to pull the rest of her monitors off.

She found the edge with her foot. She pushed herself upright and moved her feet across the gap. She took a deep breath, and did a variation of a jump, pushing off with one hand and pulling sideways with the other. She landed on his bed, bouncing just slightly. He continued to shiver, still not awake. She sighed in relief. Slowly she inched underneath his blankets, careful not to disturb any of his monitors either. She scooched over next to him and pulled him close. His skin was like ice. He definitely needed this.

His shivering slowly diminished. The knot in her stomach unraveled, and she held him tighter. Eventually, his shaking stopped, and he relaxed.

The last of her concern was replaced by pure joy. She was _cuddling_ with Phineas! A warm, hot-chocolate-fuzzy-sweater-good-book-on-Christmas -Eve feeling crept out from her stomach to the tips of her fingers and toes. Her skin tingled with delight. Even though they were both stuck in a hospital, this was the best she had ever felt. She held him tighter, and drifted off to sleep.

Isabella's head throbbed, bruises all over her body pulsing. She groaned, trying to move. But, something was pressed up against her. Something warm. Something shivering frantically.

She forced her eyes open. Rigid in her arms lay Phineas, panting and shuddering, a death grip on her white shirt. Sweat rolled off of his forehead, just like it had the day before. Isabella panicked.

"Skia!" she screamed, "Skia! Somebody! Help!" She heard hurried footsteps echo through the room. She tried to find them, but curtains had been set up around their beds. _Please, hurry,_ she thought. Phineas subconsciously buried his face into her shoulder, grinding his teeth in pain.

"I-it hurts..." he mumbled, "It hurts, please, help me..." He lay in a void, pain attacking every nerve, the constant throb crushing him from every angle. His skin burned but he felt so cold. Sweat boiled up and iced his skin as it slid down off his face. He had no idea who it was that he clung to, but they had to be able to make it stop. _Please, help me!_

Isabella cried out again. This wasn't like before. Something was wrong. Something was really wrong. She turned her head to the monitors. Not a single light was on. On either of theirs. The power had gone out and turned them all off.

Absolute terror filled her. The terror mixed with the constant throb of her body, nearly making her puke. Phineas clung to her still, trembling. She pulled him closer, tears filling her eyes.

Suddenly, a teenage boy pushed aside a wall of curtains. His hair was a deep purple, with bangs that swooped sideways across his forehead. His dark eyebrows were furrowed over silver, caring eyes. But, what shocked Isabella the most, were large, eagle-like wings made of pure energy protruding from his back. They were the same deep purple, with silver along the top ridge.

He rushed forward, putting a hand to Phineas' head. He took it away and began flicking on equipment. It came to life with a low hum. One monitor began beeping furiously. The boy snatched a syringe off a nearby table and plunged it into Phineas' IV bag. The same blue liquid seeped down the tube.

Immediately, Phineas began to relax. His grip on her shirt loosened, and he fell back into a peaceful sleep.

Isabella shook slightly, panting heavily. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up into the boy's shiny silver eyes.

"You okay?" he asked. His voice was silky and strong.

"Y-yeah," she wavered, "That was scary."

The boy smiled, and stuck out his hand, "Alekin. Alekin Lytelus."

She took it hesitantly, "Isabella."

"Good to finally see you awake, Isabella," he said, "You've been unconscious for quite a while. Glad you could join us again."

She pulled her arm out from under Phineas and pushed herself upright, groaning, "How long was I out?"

"Well, you were asleep for almost a week until you woke up yesterday..."

Her eyes widened. _A week? I was out for a full week?_

Alekin nodded, as if reading her thoughts, and continued, "I'm surprised you're already awake. None of your friends are, and you were hurt a lot worse than them. Not as bad as Phineas here, but still much worse than anyone else in your group."

Isabella's heart jerked. She had totally forgotten about the rest of her friends.

"Oh my gosh Ferb! Baljeet! Buford! Candace! My troupe! Are they alright? What happened? Where are they?" Her mind went into overdrive, thinking up all sorts of scenarios. Alekin opened his mouth to speak.

"How about I explain this one, Alekin."

He jumped. A short, dark-haired girl about his age pushed her way past the curtains. Her long, curly hair bounced around her soft, sleek face. Her large brown eyes sparkled, thick black eyebrows raised in amusement at his surprise. Thick, red lips smiled wide, her nose crinkling in delight at his expression.

"Sam!" he exclaimed, "I thought you were going to tend to Ash!"

"Nah, Ash is fine for now. I thought I'd come see how Miss Garcia-Shapiro was feeling. How are you, Isabella?"

Isabella simply watched the two. _This is just getting weirder and weirder. A "sorceress?" Now this winged guy? What is she, a psychic?_ They continued to stare at her expectantly.

"Uh, okay?" she responded, "A bit beat up, but..."

"Ah, that's right!" Alekin exclaimed, slapping a hand to his forehead, "Your medication's probably worn off, too. Here." He turned back to the nearby table and pulled the stopper off of a syringe, pouring the contents into a glass. He held it out to her. She eyed it hesitantly.

"Aw, c'mon it doesn't taste all that bad. I could stick you with a needle again if you prefer."

She took the glass and downed it in one gulp. Instantly, the throbbing subsided.

"Better?" Sam asked, plopping down on the bed. Isabella nodded.

"Good. So, you're probably wanting some explanation right about now, huh?"

Isabella nodded again.

"What do you want to know first?"

A thousand questions raced through her head. What was this place? Who were they? What were those things back in Danville? Why were they there? Why is magic suddenly real? Why does he have wings? Where are my friends? What happened? One question eventually found its way out her mouth.

"What's wrong with Phineas?"

Sam inhaled through her teeth, grimacing, "You sure you want to hear that one first?"

Isabella nodded again.

"Well, alright then," she began, "Back in Danville, when the Daleks-those things that attacked you-they came with one purpose: to get rid of you. Not you, specifically, but anyone and everyone that was involved with Phineas and Ferb's projects."

Isabella gasped, instinctively grabbing Phineas' arm.

Sam nodded, and continued, "Phineas and Ferb have... a special gift, you may say. They can avoid the laws of the dimension. That's not the laws of physics. Those are easy to break. But the laws of a dimension are solid, unbreakable, and dictate exactly what can and cannot happen. Candace busting the boys breaks one of those laws, so therefore the whole universe bends to prevent it from happening. But, Phineas and Ferb have on some occasions beaten those laws. Like, for instance, the day they built their own video game. You remember how Buford was the boss, correct?"

Isabella nodded.

"And you remember how they 'programmed' the second version into the real world?"

Isabella nodded again.

"Isn't it odd that there was nothing projecting Buford into the yard?"

Isabella thought for a second, and her eyes widened.

"_That _is exactly what I mean by breaking the laws of a dimension. In your dimension, as with nearly all of them, you _cannot_ program reality. It simply doesn't work. Even the Doctor couldn't do that. They've never done it before or since, but they did it that one time, and the universe didn't correct it. And they've broken other laws too. And it attracted attention."

"Like the Daleks," Alekin added.

"Exactly," Sam continued, "And so they came after you."

"That's not exactly answering my question," Isabella cut in.

"I'm getting there," Sam said calmly, "As I was saying, they came after you lot, and the first one they spotted was you. You remember this part. Where Phineas suddenly shoved you?"

Isabella nodded. Phineas had dived into her, knocking them both into the grass. She had been peeved, until she saw the smoke rising from the spot she had been in. Phineas had gotten up and started yelling at some strange hunk of metal floating over the yard. After that, it was all flashes and loud noises, and a lot of pain.

"I don't remember much else, though," she replied.

Sam nodded, and continued, "Well, from what the Doctor told us-he's the one who rescued you guys-the Dalek tried to shoot you again, and Phineas dove in front. He's lucky to be alive. Dalek lasers are the deadliest weapons in the entire science fiction universe. The laser went through him and hit you anyway, if only with a quarter of the force it would've had."

"You're very _very_ lucky to be sitting here today," Alekin chimed in, "Thankfully, the dimensional difference-and the mystic shield we cast-the drained most of the Daleks' weaponry. Phineas only got hit with a miniscule amount of what it would've been, and you can see it almost killed him."

Tears began to well up in Isabella's eyes. Sam shot Alekin a glare, as if to say, "You're not helping."

"Phineas will be fine, Isabella," she cooed, "And so will the rest of your friends. They were already halfway out of the dimension when the TARDIS got hit. In fact, Ferb was nearly up when I walked by. He kept muttering things about Gretchen..."

Isabella laughed, and rubbed the tears out of her eyes. "So how long will it be until Phineas wakes up?"

Sam sighed, "I'd guess maybe two weeks more. But he _will_ wake up, and he hasn't suffered any serious brain damage. You should probably stay here until then. You got hit, too, and by all logic you shouldn't be awake yet."

Isabella nodded, but furrowed her brow as all the new information piled into her head, raising a hundred more questions. She opened her mouth to speak.

"You're wondering about all this stuff with dimensions and such," Sam cut her off, "Well, let me start by saying this. All those stories, those movies and TV shows and books and plays, they are very, very real."

Isabella's mouth simply hung open. _What? Of course they're not. They're just pretend._

"Oh, they are not pretend. Very much so. Maybe pretend to you, but to them they're definitely not pretend," she said. This weird reading her mind thing was starting to creep her out. Maybe wasn't so far off on her psychic idea.

"Every story ever written, ever told, ever televised, ever performed, has its own section of the universe, separated from all the others. A whole other 'dimension,' where everything that happened in what you call the story actually happened. The only thing this doesn't apply to is fanfiction. These 'parallels' are created directly from the energy in the original author's mind, and it branches off from the central dimension, 'reality,' and changes to fit the world the author imagines." Sam was starting to make some sort of sense, but at the same time, it was confusing her even more.

"Well, the walls separating these 'dimensions' are breaking, and everything is collapsing in on 'reality.'"

Sam watched Isabella carefully, trying to gauge her reaction. Most people didn't take it very well. Several had actually fainted from the initial idea.

"S-so, you're saying that all the books I've read... are real?" She was hesitant, her voice wavering.

"Yes."

She went silent again.

"So... The Hunger Games?"

"Yup."

"...Harry Potter?"

"Harry, Ron, and Hermione are a couple rows down tending to Baljeet."

"Lord of the Rings?"

"Aragorn ate breakfast with me this morning."

She went silent again, laying back down. It was a lot to take in. She squeezed Phineas' arm.

"So what is this place?" she whispered.

"This," Sam said, motioning, "Is the Fortress of Protagonists. A place where heroes from across the universe are being gathered to piece everything back together, and maybe even make it better than before. A place where everyone pools technology to keep the universe safe. So here's the big question, Isabella..."

Isabella lifted her head.

"Will you join us?"


End file.
